Mercy Beyond Borders executive director Sister Marilyn Lacey visits Mount Mercy

Mount Mercy University will welcome Mercy Beyond Borders Executive Director Sister Marilyn Lacey for a special keynote address in celebration of Mercy Day, September 22 at 7:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Mercy.

Lacey will reflect on the incredible struggles, challenges and triumphs she has experienced in working to improve the devastating living conditions of the women and children of Africa, and her organization's dedication to alleviating poverty and suffering.

Mercy Beyond Borders is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of displaced women and children living in extreme poverty. Their focus is on southern Sudan in south Saharan Africa, which has one-quarter of the world's displaced peoples. Founded in 2008, Mercy Beyond Borders aims to educate and empower the women and girls of Sudan and help rebuild communities that have been devastated by years of war and famine.

Research has shown that the single most powerful tool for lifting families up from destitution is the education of women. Mercy Beyond Borders uses three methods to fight against extreme poverty: educating women and girls, providing funding for small entrepreneurial projects designed and implemented by displaced women, and promoting maternal and child health.

Lacey has nearly 30 years of experience working with refugees, migrants and other displaced persons in refugee camps overseas and in domestic resettlement. She holds a master's degree in social work administration and is credentialed in administration and teaching.

For more information on Mercy Beyond Border, visit their website at www.mercybeyondborders.org.

Mercy Day celebrates and honors the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, Catherine McAuley.  While she never set out to establish a religious order, Catherine McAuley's dedication to serving wherever human need exists inspired other women to join her. Catherine eventually founded the Sisters of Mercy on December 12, 1831, and the order spread to other countries, eventually planting seeds that led to the founding of Mount Mercy in 1928.